diff --git a/src/cowboy_http_req.erl b/src/cowboy_http_req.erl
index 66c8853f..765d90bb 100644
--- a/src/cowboy_http_req.erl
+++ b/src/cowboy_http_req.erl
@@ -207,8 +207,8 @@ parse_header_default('Accept-Charset') -> undefined;
 parse_header_default('Accept-Encoding') -> undefined;
 parse_header_default('Accept-Language') -> undefined;
 parse_header_default('Connection') -> [];
-parse_header_default('If-Match') -> '*';
-parse_header_default('If-None-Match') -> '*';
+parse_header_default('If-Match') -> undefined;
+parse_header_default('If-None-Match') -> undefined;
 parse_header_default(_Name) -> undefined.
 
 %% @doc Semantically parse headers.